An Awesomely Simple Explanation of How a Parachute Works

A parachute is used extensively to break the fall from an aircraft or higher altitudes. Owing to its large surface area it aids to slow down the descent rate of the person or object thus resulting in a safe landing. Let us learn the mechanics behind this seemingly simple device through this Buzzle article.

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Did You Know?
The word parachute comes from the French prefix paracete, originally from the Greek, meaning to protect against, and chute, the French word for 'fall'.

With the craze for adventure sports catching up pretty quick, it isn't surprising to find a lot of people participating in activities that make use of the parachute. Action sports like skydiving, paragliding and parasailing employ the use of parachutes. Besides, parachutes continue to be used to drop soldiers on battlefields without the need for a landing strip for the carrier plane. Parachutes are also used during rescue mission to drop supplies and equipment during times of floods.

A parachute works on a simple technique that helps break the fall by acting against the tug of gravity. In all simplicity explained, a parachute employs opposition energy to safely bring objects and people down towards the ground. To better understand the logic behind the parachute imagine yourself cycling against a strong gust of wind with a huge board. The board is sure to keep pushing you back making it difficult to surge ahead. The principle of a parachute is similar, the large surface area provides resistance thus allowing an object to glide rather than have a free fall to the ground.

The Working of a Parachute
When a person using a parachute opens it, he/she creates a certain amount of resistance owing to the large surface area covered by the parachute fabric. The expanded fabric or drag as it is known, traps the air molecules on the inner side of the chute causing it to blow outwards. This causes the molecules to balance out the pressure created in the air. Owing to the gravitational pull of the earth, the person wearing the parachute is pulled towards the earth but the pressure created due to the trapped molecules of air helps slow down their rate of fall. In short, an open parachute catches and entraps air particles equivalent to its surface area thus aiding a safe descend.

Have you closely observed a feather floating to the ground?
When an object falls, it uses all of its weight to push the air molecules aside. In the case of a feather, the surface area is larger than its weight which causes the air molecules to push back against the underside of the feather which works to slow down the rate of descent.

The Working Principle:
When the retarding force of the air just balances the downward pull of gravity, the object will no longer gain speed; it will have reached what is called its terminal velocity. Since the feather is so much lighter than a coin or a brick, the air resistance on it very quickly builds up to equal the pull of gravity, this causes the feather to lose out on speed and drift slowly to the ground. The same principle can be applied to the open parachute which causes it to drift slowly to the ground.

The fall of an object depends upon the weight it bears. The lighter it is, the longer it takes to reach the ground. The air carries the atoms and molecules that these objects push their way through in order to get to their destination. The rocks, being relatively heavier than the other objects, can push the air molecules out of their way. But objects as light as feathers find it difficult to make their way through these air molecules.

Since in case of humans, the parachute gathers in a lot of air molecules as it carries the person along, it manages to hold the person for longer time.

My name is Pablo i am 10 year old fifth grader in a Bayonne school.Thank you for this it helped me figure out how parachutes work for my science project and the writer did a good job of thinking this threw. - Pablo [November 18, 2013]

THANK YOU! - ALM [November 11, 2013]

I WANT THAT BIG BLUE PARACHUTE {THESE ARE NICE FACTS THEY HELPED ME DO A GOOD PARAGRAPH} - E.R [November 11, 2013]

thanks 4 the good information i might get an A+ - Scott n. [December 3, 2012]

thank you this imformation was very useful - cloclo [October 5, 2012]

this info was very intresting thank you - larna goodwin [October 5, 2012]

OTHERE THAN THAT I THINK IT WAS AWSOME THANX 4 THE HELP - aurora [September 26, 2012]

it was good for my research but i think it needed i bit more about what a parachute is and describing it rather than the history of it - aurora [September 26, 2012]

your facts are great out of all the other ones! your the only website that has usefull facts - pierina [September 26, 2012]

wow - lilly [September 21, 2012]

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like the website and i love football i play for arsenal - sungoo [July 18, 2012]

very good and i like it sooo much - amrik mann [July 17, 2012]

this website is very good and its done by a tree - Amrik mann [July 17, 2012]

Hi, nice article in general but I didn't quite understand the logic of "The lighter it is, the quicker it reaches the ground." - Tigfish [May 4, 2012]

I don't get "The Lighter It Is, The Quicker It Falls On The Ground" Maybe you are trying to say that the heavier it is the quicker it falls on the ground. :/ - Mystery Elite [May 2, 2012]

thank you - musaab [April 11, 2012]

has anybody died because of parushutes - igor [April 5, 2012]

Hey Thank you this is a amazing site and do recommend it for others - diamond [March 8, 2012]

Thanks it really helps! - Crystal [March 8, 2012]

thanks so much that helped me with my homework thanks by the way we are learning about parachutes in school - Eve [March 7, 2012]

Thx for the help - gio [February 4, 2012]

When you wrote 'the lighter it is, the quicker it reaches the ground' you then go on to explain how rocks push particles aside faster, but a feather (lighter than a rock) has trouble doing so. Doesn't this then mean that the feather will reach the ground after the rock? - Esther [January 27, 2012]

one more thing...title is incorrect grammar aswell, "Does" and "work" would not be capitalized - Nick [October 17, 2011]

agree with nick..he was being weay to nice though. its like you typed and posted, and didnt even read what you wrote, and its crazy how some teachers are saying its awesome, and how they teach this to their kids, and dont even realize that its way wrong - Jaybird [October 17, 2011]

need some correcting. if the first real parachute was invented in 1780, thats over 200 hundred years ago, not 300. if your trying to teach the subject, make sure its all correct, alot of other grammer errors aswell. look over your work, and you will be a better writer =) otherwise the information is there, and its an interesting read - Nick [October 17, 2011]

We tried out our parachute on a bridge that was 4.7 metres high on a windy day. We dropped the parachute the first time with 30 grams attached to the chute it took 2.45 seconds to get to the bottom. The second time we had 10 grams in the chute that took 3.59 seconds to get to the bottom. The last time we didn’t put any weight into the chute and it took 4.72 seconds to get to the ground. The parachute is light weight and has a large plastic bag attached to top , therefor as it fall’s it catches wind and drags the chute down , every time we changed the weight holding the chute down the drop times changed because there was less holding the chute down (bringing it to the ground ).This wasn’t necessarily accurate; when we tried out our parachute on the bridge we only tried this method once - acmad [May 26, 2011]

okay:( - casidy b [May 26, 2011]

id love to go skydiving - Arielle [May 26, 2011]

I think this article is very good for teen student to read and learn from. I am a middle school teacher and I even learn through this site! - Belinda McCinto [May 23, 2011]

just wondering who wrote this article( how does a parachute work)? it is really good and i need the info for a bliography. - lizette [May 19, 2011]

i think that they need to include something like does size matter or something like that. - volk [February 14, 2011]

nice - linc [February 14, 2011]

i need to arreange a small parachute to my toy ...how?condition is i'll project my toy in to the air .when 'll it velocity becomes zero .at that time it 'll open how 'll it possible - Naresh [February 14, 2011]

when was this published - Sarah [November 28, 2010]

I want how to work it not what happened. - James Thura [November 16, 2010]

can we use a huge parachute for airplane in case of emergency when all the engines of airplane fails? - rabia saeed [November 8, 2010]

wow im amazed about the parachuted and how they work - bob s [October 27, 2010]

The force that acts on a parachute that slows its motion is air resistance (drag). This is because the wide surface area of the canopy hits molecules within the air. The parachute travels at a constant velocity since gravity and air resistance remain constant. Gravity is slightly stronger than drag thus the parachute travels downwards slowly. - Borris [October 21, 2009]

Acceleration when falling has nothing to do with the weight! Everything falls at 9.8 m/s^2 it's only the shape of the object which has an affect on speed. The only difference is heavier objects create a larger force when falling.

It's not that hard, it's 8th grade physics? - Lara [October 20, 2009]

uqhh dhisz isz too much to write;; - bubblesz [September 25, 2009]

HEY,,,,,ITS MARTY - MARTY [September 16, 2009]

i dont think that is right... - jojo [September 16, 2009]

will adding mass to a parachuts cause the parachute to fall faster - miles [September 3, 2009]

I LIKE THIS SITE!1 - ADITYA [August 23, 2009]

there isnt enough info on the parachute - anonymous [August 22, 2009]

This was very helpful information...Thank you very much for now I can use some of this information to guide me with my project. Thanks againChelsea - Chelsea [August 11, 2009]

i love parachutes cause it gives my child good imfo about it he lerned an found how waz it discovered an i love it relly love it i made love 2 it once - johathan [July 29, 2009]

i think it is good cause it gives u imformation about the parachutes work an when was it discoverd an i loe it cause it gives my child good imfo for his projects - johathan [July 29, 2009]

Hey. the first 2 sentances kind of confused me..See, people and objects, whether or not they have a parachute, are going to fall. Its called gravity, and there's no stopping it. Seriously. Its going to take over the world! Oh, sorry... Sometimes I get carried away... But really, maybe you should reword that... - hitchhiker42 [April 29, 2009]

cool - john [April 21, 2009]

I just want to know that, is it possible to make a person remain in air that is when a person falls from a parashuite, it should not fall down(it should be stationary in air ) ? - ROHIT RANJAN [April 18, 2009]

I lovee this website so much!you mean the world to me parachutesyour so insperational.I LOVE YOU! - Tom presdee [March 19, 2009]

i will let you in to a little secret here. ok my secret is that i once merlestered a parachutest and his parachute im soo sorry ... NOT I LOVED IT ! - DIZZIE OGDEN [March 19, 2009]

I love parachutes so much i once made love to one it was alot better than the prozzi i picked up the other day :DI think they are awsome ! - Megan Giles [March 19, 2009]

The following two sentences from para 5 are rather confusing when read in context."The lighter it is, the quicker it reaches the ground. ""But objects as light as feathers find it difficult to pass their way through these air molecules. "

If feathers find it difficult to pass their way through the air molecules, wouldn't it take a longer time to reach the ground? - Anucia [February 28, 2009]

i love this very ispirational web site . i am going to live up to be a parachute man - bob [February 2, 2009]

it was good but it doesnt say how to use it - danielle [January 6, 2009]

well what are some of the materials used to make a parachute? - Kaily Smith [December 4, 2008]

more pitcure's - dot [December 2, 2008]

Very detailed. Many thanks. - Joe F [November 16, 2008]

and needs to be shorter - jarred unicomb [November 11, 2008]

needs more detail - jarred unicomb [November 11, 2008]

boring i think need to make at more fun - jessie [November 7, 2008]

tuck u - buerrito [November 5, 2008]

hey:) im doing a science project on parachutes and i just wanted to know, what kind of matrial should i use that would compare to the actual kind of material they would use for a real parachute, say if i was using one of those fake toy soldiers - paco rodriguez [November 4, 2008]

its rlly kool it acutally gave me an A ON MY science project its so koolthanx alot - joemarry [October 20, 2008]

crazy good! i work for poptarts and for my aplication i had to look up parachutes. your website worked. AWESOME BYE! - Ginger Smith [October 1, 2008]

Hey, I'm Mia and Buzzle your not really helping be right down. You have nothing on Airplanes Buzzle and i really wish you did! - Mia [October 1, 2008]

You have given me lots of info! And guess what? I'm using this info for my science fair project! - Tisha [September 18, 2008]

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Hey I'm Amanda, from the Next Star I am in the top 6! The Next Star is awesome, but anyway I have some homework from school and it is a project on parachutes. Buzzle your website has really helped me out! I have one question, do you guys like my new awesome blonde hair! I hope you vote for me and watch the next epoise of the Next Star! - Amanda [September 16, 2008]

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Hello i am Crissey Tay Rotler and i loved your website! it was very usefull and it got me an a on my project! thank you SO much for having information on paruchutes! - Crissey [September 16, 2008]

You should really put how it works exactly. My science class has to do a project and we have to look up a site that has information on how parachutes work. It would have been really helpful if this site had the information we are seeking. Thank you,The Students of STJMS - STJMS students [April 21, 2008]

Kewll - Bob [April 9, 2008]

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